Sunday, September 22, 2013

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This chocolate zucchini bread is awesome for a few reasons: it tastes like cake, it’s actually pretty healthy (because it uses applesauce rather than oil), and it uses up 2 full cups of shredded zucchini. Oh yeah, and it has chocolate chips in it!
I first made this when my neighbor handed me a zucchini the size of a baby’s arm. I had run out of oil, so I was excited to come across a recipe that used applesauce instead of oil. I’m not usually into calorie-cutting measures in my baked goods but I thought I’d give it a shot. Healthy zucchini bread is better than no zucchini bread at all, right?
I’m so glad I gave this recipe a chance. It’s seriously delicious! Tender and moist, tastes like cake (second time I’ve said that, I know), studded with chocolate chips, and with a hint of cinnamon. I had to make it two times to use up my baby-arm zucchini, which is how we managed to take pictures of it to share with you!
Have you noticed we’ve been bad bloggers? Sorry about that. Remember Colorado Crafted? It’s been keeping us very busy, but we’re not complaining! Oh and remember those crazy floods that hit Colorado? Yeah, those happened in our town. We live in Longmont (the northern part of Boulder County) and so our city was hit pretty hard.
Luckily Dulcie & I both live on a hill so our houses were safe. People were evacuated literally blocks away from us, but we were both just fine. So many things (our favorite bike trails along the river, the bridge we use to get everywhere, and so many local businesses) were destroyed, but we were very fortunate. If you’re looking for a way to help out, go check out Colorado Crafted – we’re donating half of our proceeds to flood relief through the end of the month. Send a box to someone who might need a boost, or remind someone about the best side of our state!
Now, on to the recipe!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

1 cup applesauce

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup white flour

1 cup wheat flour

3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups shredded zucchini

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350.
Combine applesauce, eggs, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Stir well to combine.
Dump in all the dry ingredients, then mix again.
Lastly, stir in the shredded zucchini and chocolate chips. Pour into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan and bake at 350 for 65-70 minutes. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from pan.